Just a thought for Mother's Day

     Mother's Day is this Sunday, May 8th.  It has taken a while for this to sink in for me.  My mother no longer lives in the flesh, only in spirit and every day with me.  My house is filled with little reminders of her...her blue teapot, her oil painting, pictures and items with flowers, even her rose-framed glasses inside the blue teapot.
    
     My children always send cards or call on Mother's Day.  Sometimes they send flowers.  Sometimes they send a gift card and when they do, it's usually to a bookstore because they KNOW how I LOVE books.

     It's easy for me to think back to when they were small.  Naptimes usually involved piling up on my bed and reading a couple of children's stories.  Then we'd all cuddle up under the bedspread and take a nap.  But the most important part of that time was in being together and reading.  I believe that's why all my children like to read today, whether it's books or blogs or e-books or whatever.

     I can think of no better gift a mother can give to her children than to love them through reading to them.  By reading to your child, you teach them the excitement of learning, you link them to the world through knowledge and imagination, you give them the gift of a lifetime.  Those children who have difficulty reading will have difficulty in obtaining jobs, in taking a driving test, in filling out all those healthcare papers, on and on it goes.

     So, for this Mother's Day I want to thank my mother for loving me through reading to me.  We didn't have a TV when I was little.  We didn't go to the movies but once in a great while (like to see Bambi).  But we read, lots and lots of books, the paper kind with hardback covers.  My mother gave me the world through books.  And for that I thank her.

     To all the mothers out there, happy Mother's Day.  I hope you get a couple of new books on Mother's Day.